Paper carton machine



y 1951 c. T. WALTER ET AL 2,552,127

PAPER CARTON MACHINE Filed March 25, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

Charles 2? Waltz 1",

Lowe'll 1?. Newton e [12 z'rzrz'cb E.Hdd5e INVENTORS A T TE 5 7" BY fij .221

ATTORNE May 8, 1951 c. T. WALTER ET AL PAPER CARTON MACHINE Filed March 23, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Charles 21 Walter, Lowell 1?. Newton n INVENTORS BY MAZ A ATTORNEY May 8, 1951 PAPER CARTON MACHINE Filed March 23, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY c. T. WALTER ET AL 2,552,127

y' 1951 c. T. WAL' I'ER ET AL 2,552,127

I PAPER CARTON MACHINE Filed March 23, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ill 43 h I 43 1 l rii 1'7 11 t: 48 1 1 52 51 I 1mg 5 2 7 W 1 18 11 i1 11 11 J fim7 11 1| I v. Ill F T k 45% 1 I V i 1 1 1 1 1! 11 1 Ml .1l

O C'fzcwles 7? Walter, 11 .zlqwellje. Newton 2 1 jjezm'zb ziifiddse. E9. 16 INVENTORS A T TE$ T BY 9,244.6

ATTORNEY y 1951 c. T. WALTER ET AL 2,552,127

' PAPER CARTON MACHINE Filed March 23, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 HIIm. 5 III! h.

Hum. A I v 11 g0 rles Z ter;

. well RJY 01? By- ]5 1 qhzfnrz'cb f. fiddse INVENTORS A T T E 5 T I 9km C BY M ATTORNEY Patented May 8, 1951 PAPER CARTON MACHINE Charles T. Walter, Lowell R. Newton, and Heinrich E. Haase, Chicago, Ill., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Swift & Company, a corporation of Illinois Application March 23, 1943, Serial No. 480,200

15 Claims. (01. 9345.1)

This invention relates to a machine for applying a skirted cap to a container body and more particularly to a machine for afiixing a deformable cap on a deformable body.

It is an object of this invention to provide a machine for automatically delivering a cap into position on a body.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved means for affixing a cap to a body.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a machine for placing a skirted paper cap on a body and affixing the cap permanently to the body.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method for applying a skirted cap to a body.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for placing a deformable cap on a deformable body and permanently affixing the cap to the body.

Other objects will appear more fully below.

Referring to the drawings: 7

Figure 1 is a side'elevation showing an assembled view of the machine forming the subject of this invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Figure 1 with the cap chute removed.

Figure 3 is a front end view of the machine shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail view partly broken away showing a side elevation of the lower end of the cap delivery chute showing a container body about to engage the lowermost cap in the chute.

Figure 5 is a View taken along line 5-5 of Fig.

ure 4.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Figure 4 with the cap only partially withdrawn from the chute while being applied to a body moving through the machine, showing the cap being distorted to flare the cap skirt.

Figure 7 is a view taken on line 'l-l of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Figure 4. with the cap withdrawn completely from the chute and showing the body still distorted between the rigid side walls to e ect application of the cap and the rear edge of the cap skirt engaged on means to flare it backwardly and about to be applied to the body when it returns to its normal shape.

Figure 9 is a view taken on line 99 of Fig-. ure 8.

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Figure 4 with the cap withdrawn completely from the chute and showing the cap positioned on the container body,

in Figure 20.

Figure 14 is a detail view of the rigid side wall structure for confining an empty container as it passes through the machine and under the cap delivery chute.

Figure 15 is a detail view of the rigid wall structure for confining a filled container body as it passes through the machine and under the cap delivery chute.

Figure 16 is an end View of a heating and shrinking mechanism for affixing the cap to the body taken on line lfil 5 of Figure 2.

Figure 17 is a sectional View of the cap affixing element taken on line l1-l1 of Figure 16.

Figure 18 is a view taken on line |8l8 of Figure 16 showing the body pusher at the feed end of its stroke.

Figure 19 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a body and cap spaced therefrom, and

Figure 20 is an end view looking from the rear of the machine toward the front at a chute for applying caps to the bodies showing in exaggerated form, the angular relation of the bottom edge of the chute to the plane that includes the top edge of the container body.

No machines are readily available on the market today to automatically make an all paper cylindrical carton of small size and while machines are in use for assembling larger cartons such as oatmeal containers and the like, none of these well known machines have been found to be readily adaptable to use for the production of smaller cartons of about 3 inches in diameter and 5 inches in length. There is great need for a machine capable of producing this size container b applying a cap onto each end of a cylindrical body and as the caps must be afiixed permanently to the body, it is seen that the problem of applying a close fitting deformable skirted cap, such as a single ply cardboard cap, over each body, it will be obvious that it is readily adaptable to handle any size of body and cap.

The present invention has been provided to effect a placement of a cap onto each end of a body as above described and has been particularly designed for the purpose of rapidly applying a deformable paper cap onto each end of a deformable paper body. The actual force required to perform this operation is very small and the herein disclosed machine has been devised to make available a simplified mechanism for performing the capping and affixing operation while at the same time perfecting the process of placing and permanently adhering the caps to the bodies. This invention further makes use of certain characteristics of the materials and shape of the cap and body elements being brought together to effect their assembly as will appear more fully below.

In the machine forming the subject of this invention, the deformable cylindrical paper bodies are passed through the capping machine and as they are driven forwardly by a conveyor means, they engage a downwardly extending skirt of a cap in such a manner that the motion of the body tends to draw the cap out of the cap holding means. As it continues in a forwardly direction, the motion of the body is operative to withdraw the cap completely from the chute and to position it over the upper end of the body.

The body itself as well as the cap is deformable and, in the preferred disclosure, in applying the cap to the body, the body is deformed while the skirt of the cap is flared outwardly so that the cap passes easily onto the body. To aid the operation of placing a cap on the body, the body is rotated as the cap is being withdrawn from the chute so that the cap is worked into position by a screwing action whereby it is more easily directed into a proper relation with respect to the body. Thereafter, the cap and body are delivered through a heating and shrinking means in which the skirt is acted upon to lay it smoothly against the body and the cap is permanently affixed thereto.

A shown more particularly in the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent an assembled view of the entire machine. In this machine, cylindrical container bodies III are delivered onto a conveyor I I and the bodies are carried forwardly in the direction of the arrow to a gate I2 which is opened periodically to permit bodies to enter the machine one by one in spaced relation. The bodies upon being released intermittently by the gate I2 are carried forwardly by the conveyor I I and become engaged between a movable side wall l3 and a fixed wall I la opposite the movable Wall. Due to the relative motion between the fixed wall and movable wall I3, the body is rotated and while it is being rotated, its upper edge engages a glue applying roller IA. The body is rotated against the periphery of the glue roll I4 as it progresses forwardly so that a bead of glue is disposed around the entire periphery of the upper edge of the body. The glue roller It is of a length substantially equal to the circumference of the can body so that a bead of glue is applied around the entire upper edge of the body.

The movable wall I3 may take the form of a wide endless belt passing around rollers I5 and I6 mounted upon vertical axes and a backing wall I I is preferably provided to prevent the belt from expanding outwardly when in engagement With a body. Glue roller I4 and the endless belt forming wall I3 may both be driven from a common source of energy and as shown in Figure 3 a motor I8, driving through a suitable gearing means, drives belts I9 and 28 which drive the wall I3 and roller I4 respectively. The gate I2 iS driven from a cam 2| fixed to the shaft of 1.011%

I4 so that the bodies are admitted in properly timed relation.

After the body has been driven into contact with glue roll It and has had a bead of glue applied to its upper edge, the conveyor II carries the body forwardly until it is engaged between the moving wall I3 and the fixed wall 22. The wall 22 is spaced from the wall I3 a distance less than the diameter of a can and therefore, the body is distorted to a generally elliptical shape with the longest axis of the ellipse disposed generally parallel to the direction of movement of the body through the machine. The body is not only distorted upon being driven between the walls, but inasmuch as the wall 22 is stationary and wall I3 is moving, the body is rotated at a speed determined by the speed of movement of wall I3. The direction of the movement of wall I3 causes the bodies to rotate in the direction of the arrows, see Figure 2. The rigid backing wall I! insures that the can body will be positively distorted for a purpose that will appear more fully below.

The control of the body is taken up by wall I3 and wall 22 just as the body comes under the lower end of cap chute 23. The cap chute is positioned over the conveyor II in such a manher that the lowermost cap 24 in the chute is projected into the path of movement of the body through the capping station such that the body will engage the forward edge of the skirt of the cap to drag the cap out of the chute. A the body is moved forwardly, it rolls over wall 22 and the cap is drawn progressively out of the chute as best shown in Figures 4, 6, 8 and 10 while the cap is being positioned on the upper edge of the rotating body. The cap is dragged out of the chute by the movement of the body as it progresses forwardly and after it is drawn from the chute the cap is engaged by the weighted cap pressing shoe 25 which drives it neatly into position on the upper edge of the body. The pressing shoe 25 is, therefore, spaced from the conveyor I I a distance just equal to the height of the can body so that the cap will be firmly pressed onto the upper end of the body. In order to compensate for variations in the height of the separate bodies, which are sometimes encountered, the presser member 25 may be mounted on the lower end of the chute 23 in slots 26 (Figure 1) so that the end of the shoe may move vertically. The weight, however, is sufficient to normally urge the pressing shoe downwardly with just the right force to position the cap firmly on the body. The opposite end of the shoe is movably mounted on yoke 21 supported from the standard 28. The presser shoe so mounted, that if a cap is misapplied, the body and cap will pass freely through the machine.

The inside diameter of the cap skirt is just equal to the outside diameter of the body and means are provided to direct the skirt over the upper edge of the body. To aid in the placement of the cap on the body, the body is compressed to have an elliptical shape and the cap is manipulated to shape it so that it may be more easily slipped onto the body and to so control its shape, it is bent around a shoulder 29 provided at the forward end of the pressing shoe as it is withdrawn from the chute. When the cap is bent around shoulder 29 as shown in Figure 6, the lower edges of the side walls of the cap are stretched so that the side walls of the cap tend to flare outwardly and as the cap is directed downwardly, in passing under the pressing shoe,

the outwardly flared walls are driven downwardly over the in-pressed side walls of the body which is at this time squeezed between walls l3 and 22. As shown in the plan view of Figure '7, the simultaneous distortion, of the side walls of the body inwardly and the side walls of the skirt of the cap outwardly, provides a maximum clearance between the side walls of the cap and body as the one is being moved downwardly onto the other whereby a perfect placement of the cap on the body is insured. Although the can body is being continuously rotated, the relative distortion of the two elements will remain the same during this phase of the cap application because the body and cap are held, during their forward movement, between the relatively fixed confines of distorting elements, including the moving wall [3, wall 22, and shoulder 29.

Any means for engag ng the cap to bend it about an axis disposed at right angles to the direction of movement of the cap out of the chute will effect the desired outward flaring of the cap skirt. When the cap presser takes the form of the weighted shoe 25, the nose 29 thereof provides a convenient bending axis. If means other than the pressing shoe 25 is used to press the cap onto the body, a fixed axis must be provided or other means may be substituted to bend the cap as it is being withdrawn so that its skirt will be flared outwardly.

The can body is distorted to have an elliptical shape until the cap has been drawn fully out of the chute to the position substantially as shown in Figure 8 whereupon the body immediately passes beyond the shoulder 30 formed in the wall 22 and after passing this shoulder, the body may exp-and to its normal shape. During movement of the body up to the shoulder 30, the rear wall of the body engages the pivotally mounted vane 3i positioned between the upper end of the can body and the lower end of the chute. The body wall engages the vane to lift its free end into contact with the inner surface of the lower edge of the rear wall of the cap skirt. The free end of the vane 3| is provided with an upwardly turned arcuate edge 32 which frictionally engages a substantial length of this lower edge of the skirt and as the cap and body continue their progressive movement through the machine, the edge 32 tends to hold the lower edge of the skirt back as the cap moves forwardly so that the rear wall of the skirt of the cap is flared backwardly over the rear wall of the body.

As the rear edge of the body passes the vane, the vane drops to its normal position and positively holds the rear wall of the skirt flared backwardly while the cap presser completes the cap application. The bodies with glue applied to their upper periphery flow to the capping station in spaced relation, the spacing being governed by the consideration that the succeeding body shall not interfere with the movement of the vane in the application of the cap to the preceding body and shall be timed with respect to the movement of the caps in the cap supply chute so that a cap will have fallen into position to be engaged by the succeeding body.

The vane 3i is pivotally mounted about a horizontally disposed axis 33 and is so placed that the upper edge of a body passing under it will brush against its'under side as the body moves through the capping station. The vane does not extend into the mouth of the chute where it would be in the way of the lowermost cap issuing from the chute, but the free end of the vane which carries the friction surface 32 terminates just short of this point and is situated to catch the rear edge of the cap skirt as the rear edge of the cap drops out of the chute.

The above described capping mechanism is the preferred design and is operative to squeeze the body into an elliptical shape and rotate it as it passes through the machine. While the shape of the body is being controlled, 2. cap is presented to its upper end, which cap is simultaneously distorted in a controlled manner so that the skirt of the cap is flared outwardly with respect to the wall of the body at all points where they must move in relation to each other and the skirt of the cap is positively spread to enable it to be positioned over the upper edge of the body. It is obvious that the capping method here taught would be operative if the body were neither rotated nor distorted. The rotation and distortion do, however, greatly facilitate the cap placement and provide a decided improvement.

After having had a cap applied to the body the assembled elements are delivered forwardly by the conveyor H from under the capping means. The cap having been placed on the body, it must now be permanently afiixed thereto and in passing from the capping station to the affixing station, the bodies are made to pass under a detecting means 34 which is adapted to feel the presence or absence of a cap on a body. The detector is operative to eject any uncapped bodies from the stream flowing through the machine.

Referring again to Figures 1 and 2, it is seen that the detector is positioned to have feeler members engage the top edge of the body being carried along by the conveyor 1 l and these feelers take the form of two integrally connected and pivotally mounted arms 35 and 35. Each of the feeler members is disposed so as to engage the top of the wall of a body passing under the detector, and the wall engaging ends of each of the arms 35 and 36 are both disposed in the same horizontal plane and are spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of the can body.

The arm 35 is situated to be engaged initially by a body passing beneath the detector and it projects into the path of movement of the top edge of the wall in such a manner that the edge acts as the moving element of a cam to lift arm 35. Arm 36 on the other hand is so shaped as to hook around the periphery of the body so that unless it is lifted out of the path of movement of the body, it will engage the upper end thereof to upset the forwardly moving body.

, During normal operation of the machine, if a body should pass under the detector having a cap properly positioned on it, the arm 35 is lifted by the upper edge of the body wall as it passes under the detector, and arm 36 integral with arm 35 is lifted out of its position for upsetting the ,can. Arm 35 is pivoted to swing upwardly by this engagement with the body and the can moves forwardly with arm 35 bearing lightly on the lid. Before the end of arm 35 has passed ofi of the lid, the end of arm 35, disposed in the same plane, passes over onto the lid and arm 36 is supported thereby so that it is maintained out of its tripping position. Whenever a cap has been properly applied, the arms 35 and 35 merely slide across the cap and when the arm 36 passes off of the rear edge of the cap,

7 they drop into position to monitor the next body passing beneath the detector.

If for any reason a cap should not be placed on a body, then, when that body passes the detector without a cap on it, the arm is engaged by the front edge of the body and is lifted thereby but as soon as the wall passes from under the end of arm 35, the arm, not being supported by a cap, drops down to its former position. Then, as the can progresses, the front surface of the body comes into contact with the lowered arm 36 which, having dropped with arm 35, is now disposed in such a position that it will upset the can body. An opening is provided in the side wall 31 adjacent the detector station and the upset can will roll out laterally from the conveyor H to be ejected from the line of flowing bodies. If desired, the conveyor Il may be tilted slightly at the detector station to encourage the upset bodies to roll off, but it has been found that the mere falling of the body cause it to roll out of the flowing line.

When a properly capped body has passed the detector, it progresses forwardly on conveyor H toward the cap afiixing means until it is engaged by a gate 40 which controls the admission of capped bodies of the affixing means.

As above stated, the deformable caps being placed on the bodies are very closely fitted to the size of the bodies and thus the skirt of the cap must be flared during the cap positioning step to insure a proper placement of the cap on the body. Inasmuch as the caps themselves are deformable and also having been positively distotred while being placed on the body, means must be provided to smooth the skirts into a neat relation with respect to the body. The present machine not only provides a very simple expedient to accomplish this result, but utilizes this means to permanently affix the caps to the body. This dual function i accomplished when the capped body is delivered into a heated ironing means which smooth the skirt against the body and dries the glue for affixin the cap thereto.

Any suitable means can be utilized and in the preferred construction, to feed the capped bodies into this afiixing means, a gate 48 is operated in timed relation to the movement of a pusher ll and when the gate is withdrawn, a capped body moves forwardly with the conveyor ll until it is stopped by a wall 42, see Figures 2 and 16. The wall positions the capped body before the pusher 4i and at properly timed intervals, the pusher is reciprocated laterally with respect to the con veyor H to drive the capped body off of the conveyor and into position below the heating and ironing means 53 and on the platform of an elevator 44-.

The heating and ironing means 43, as is best shown in Figure 17, takes the form of a tubular, preferably metallic, core as surrounded by heating elements 46 over which an insulating cover 41 is fitted to complete the structure. The heating elements 46 as shown are of the electrical resistance type, however, it will be understood. that any other suitable heat source could be utilized. The coremember 415 may be and preferably i assembled from two semi-circular elements which are resiliently urged together to form a circle and resilient means such as the coil springs 48 may encircle the periphery of the core member to yieldingly hold the two semicircular elements compressed.

The circular cross-section of the core element is selected to be equal to or slightly less than that of the body and cap so that when the capped body is inserted longitudinally into the core, the walls of the core 45 will firmly engage all portions of the periphery of the skirt of the cap and body. When the capped body is driven longitudinally through a heating and ironing means constructed in thi manner, the skirt of the cap will be ironed fiat against the body and heat and pressure will be simultaneously applied. The resilient means disposed around the heating and ironing core 45 will accomplish the desired pressure between the cap skirt and the inner surface of core 45 so that a very efficient ironing action is had.

The capped body is pushed entirely through the longitudinally extending core and emerges from the opposite end with the cap permanently affixed to the body. Preferably the end of the body having the cap newly placed thereon is driven into the core so that the skirt of the cap is wiped down against the body. It is possible, however, to reverse this procedure and let the newly capped end follow the body into the core and once the edge of the cap skirt is tucked into the core, the ironing and sealing process can be performed.

The capped body is inserted in the core when the elevator 44, upon which it has been placed by pusher M, is raised. The capped body which has just been driven into the core rests in the heating and ironing means while the elevator is lowered to receive another capped body and upon the insertion of the following body into the core, the first body is stepped forwardly upon being pushed by said following body. The fit of the bodies in the core is such that the last body inserted into the core pushes all those before it and the bodies move step by step through the core until they issue from the opposite end thereof.

As is shown in Figure 16, the heating and ironing element 43 is of such length that a plurality of can bodies will be positioned within the core 45 at any one time and the length of the core is determined by the speed with which the bodies are forced therethrough. For any given temperature of the core as maintained by the heating elements 66, the can and body must be subjected to a heating and pressing action for a determinable period of time to effect a proper sealing. Thus as the bodies are delivered to elevator M at a fixed rate per minute the average velocity of the bodies can be determined as they move through the core step by step and the length of the core 45 must be designed to cause each of the capped bodies to be subjected to the heating and pressing means for the desired length of time.

The core 45 is designed to fit the capped body relatively tightly and, therefore, means must be provided to direct the capped body into the lower end of the core as it is raised toward the mouth of the core by the elevator 44. To control the movement of the can body as it approaches the entrance to the core, the guides 5i} and 5! are fixed to the under side of the affixing means to engage the left hand side of the can, referring to Figure 16, to direct the body exactly into the core. The pusher 4| is provided with a nose 52 which engages the other side of the can body and as the elevator M lifts the capped body, the body is confined between the three spaced points 50, 5| and 52 so that it is positively guided into the heating and ironing element. The motion of the pusher 4| is controlled to cause the pusher to have a dwell at the end of its feed stroke and its nose 52 is held stationary to confine the body against the guides 50 and 5| while the elevator is rising. As soon as the body enters the core, the pusher beginsto retract while the elevator continues its upward movement.

The elevator and pusher are adapted to be reciprocated in timed relation with respect to each other by the cam mechanism 53 shown in Figure 16 which operates through suitable drive connections to impart motion to each of these elements. The body being lifted into the core will engage the can previously lifted into this device and feed it upwardly one step, and after a proper ironing period, the body and cap issue from the upper end of the heating and shrinking means 43 with the cap permanently affixed to the body. As the capped body issues from the heating and ironing means 43, see Figure 1, it is received in the guide means 66 which turns the can upside down as it falls through the guide so that the cap will be disposed on the bottom of the body and the body may be directed onto a conveyor for delivery to further processing means.

This machine may be used to apply caps on both ends of a body and after the first cap has been applied, the empty can maybe filled.

After the can has been filled, it may again be passed through the capping station and onto the heating and ironing means to apply a second cap to the body to complete the package. In handling either filled or empty containers, the essential operation and construction of the machine i the same but a minor variation at the capping station has been found desirable.

When caps are being placed on an empty can, and remembering that the body has been distorted to an elliptical shape, the bottom edges of the can are continuously pinched together after the upper edges of the can have been released. The upper edges are released at the moment when the cap is completely withdrawn from the chute and when the rear edge of the skirt is about to be positioned over the rear edge of the body. It has been found that an empty con tainer when once distorted and upon being released, tends to remain partially distorted thus retaining a semblance of its former elliptical shape. While a cap can be applied on such a partially distorted body with the present mechanism, including the fiapper device 3|, it is preferred to cause the can body to return to its original cylindrical shape. This is accomplished by pinching the bottom edges of the walls of the empty container together after the-upper edges of the walls have been released. Such pinching action against the bottom after the top has been released tends to force the top edge to move in a direction opposite to that in which the bottom is urged and thus a force is created to expand the upper edges of the side walls to counteract the ellipitical shape previously impressed upon the body by compressing said upper edges.

On the other hand, upon capping a filled container, the material filled into the can tends to expand the bodyand this expansive force within the body is sufficient to return it to its original cylindrical shape after it passes from between the confines of the moving wall I3 and the opposing stationary rigid wall 22 and thus it is not necessary to squeeze the bottom edges of the wall of a filled can after the top edge has'been released. While a filled can can be capped on the mechanism adapted to handle empty bodies, it is 10 preferable to provide a separate machine for this purpose.

Figures 14 and 15 show means to effect application of the desired shaping forces to the empty and filled bodies. In Figure 14 the rigid wall 22 is shown for distortin the empty body to an elliptical shape while placing the cap on it and for releasing the top while pinching the bottom edge of the body durin the final phase of this capping operation. The wall 22 may itself be shaped to accomplish this end but the preferred construction shown in Figure 14 makes use of two rubber ribs it and H spaced vertically along the wall 22. The ribs form the bearing surface for the body against the wall 22 and each rib is divided into two zones of different thickness. The thicker zone of each of the ribs extends from the forward end of wall 22 toward the outlet end of the capping station and the body passes from the thicker portion to the thinner zone as the capping progresses. The division line between the two zones forms the shoulder 30 in wall 22 for the purpose explained above. In Figure 14 it is seen that on rib H the thicker zone is longer than that of rib 70 so that the bottom edge of the body is held confined between wall it and the thicker zone of rib ll for a longer period during the capping step than the upper edge of the body is confined between the thickened zone of rib ill and wall I3. Thus the upper portion of the body wall is released while the bottom portion of the wall is pinched to urge the top edge of the body to return to its original circular shape as explained above.

The wall shown in Figure 15 is preferably used for cappin filled containers. The ribs 12 and 13 are both shaped alike and the shoulders 3!] of each rib are disposed in vertical alignment so that the top and bottom portions of the filled bodys wall are both released from being distorted between wall It and the thicker portions of ribs i2 and 73, at the same time. The material filled into the body can then effect the expansion of the body to its normal cylindrical shape.

It should be noted that when the can is rolling along the wall shown in either Figure 14 or Figure 15 and after passing shoulder 39), the body, upon returning to its cylindrical form, is still engaged between walls l3 and 22 whereby it is continuously rotated. This continued rotation aids presser 25 is setting the cap firmly on the upper edge of the body.

The paper caps adapted to be applied to container bodies by the present machine, are formed by a die stamping operation and it has been found, due to the fiber distribution in the paper from which the caps are formed, that the caps become somewhat distorted and are apt to have a perceptible bend or distortion in them as they come from the die press. Because such Variations are encountered, the chute 23 is provided at its lower end with means to catch such variously shaped caps.

This cap engaging means includes a pair of in-pressed shoulders l4 and E5 to catch caps which might be distorted to have an elliptical shape rather than circular wherein the longest axis of the ellipse is disposed laterally across the chute. Such a cap flowing down the chute will be engaged by the shoulders M and i5 and will, of course, project beyond the end 16 of the floor of the chute so that the skirt of the cap will be in the path of the movement of the body so that the cap will be engaged and withdrawn from the chute. Such a cap is shown in Figure 12.

If a distorted cap should pass down the chute with the longest axis of the ellipse parallel to the length of the chute, it might pass between shoulders M and 15, but if so, the cap will be stopped at the lower end of the chute when it engages the upwardly directed nose 29 of the presser member 25. This cap will be supported between the bottom of the chute, the nose of the presser 25, and the bottom of foot H which is fixedly mounted above the chute. The skirt of this cap will likewise be held positioned in the path of the body movement so that it will be forcibly withdrawn from the chute by a body passing through the capping station. The foot it engages the rear end of the cap to prevent it from falling out of the chute prematurely when this cap is engaged against the nose 29 of the cap presser 25.

The chute 23 may be formed from a substantially U shaped channel and is inclined at about a 30 angle with respect to the horizontal. The paper caps will flow down the chute under the influence of gravity and, to prevent the forward edge of one cap from riding over the rear edge of the preceding cap, a taut wire 18 is drawn centrally and lengthwise of the chute and diametrically across each of the caps in the chute. To avoid undue contact between the caps and the. wire, the latter may be spaced from the bottom of the chute a distance slightly less than twice the height of the skirt and thus, if the caps tend to flow down the chute without riding over one another, they are not engaged against the wire above. However, as soon as one cap tries to ride over another, it bumps into the wire before it can move onto the top of the next cap and the movement of the line of caps through the chute is properly controlled.

The operation of this machine will now be understood and the container body to be capped is placed upon the right hand end of the conveyor H, as shown in either Figures 1 or 2, from where it is admitted to the machine by a gate l2 which is intermittently operated to release one body at a time for passage through the cappin station. The released body is carried forwardly by the conveyor it until it is engaged between the moving walli3, wall Ma, and the glue applying roller I l and due to the relative motion between these elements, the body is rotated in the direction of the arrow so that a bead of glue is applied around the entire periphery of the upper edge of the body as it passes along the length of roller [4. The body is then carried by conveyor ll into the confined space formed between the walls I3 and 22 and the body is squeezed to the elliptical shape shown in Figure 1 and all the while is bein continuously rotated as it passes along under the lower end of cap chute 23.

The body rotates as it passes under the lower end of the chute and its upper edge engages the projecting skirt of the lowermost cap in the chute. Due to the relative rotation between the body and the cap, the cap is applied to the body by a screwing action. The upper edge of the body moves into the generally vertically extending skirt so that any loose fibers on the edge of the body are wiped flat against its wall by both the shearing action which takes place between the two surfaces and the relative turning motion produced between the body and cap. The relative motion of the wall and the skirt as the cap is driven into position on the body is best seen upon referring to Figure 7, where a cap bent around nose 29 of the pressing shoe is shown being applied to the elliptically shaped'body, having a transverse diameter A and a longer longitudinal diameter B. The body is being rotated in the direction of the arrow and as point C on the periphery of the body moves from the point on the periphery opposite the smallest diameter to-- ward the point on the periphery opposite the largest diameter, this point C gradually ap proaches the skirt of the cap until at. the point opposite the largest diameter, it is laid. neatly into the corner formed between the top of the cap and its side wall. As the body continues to rotate, a goodly portion of the top edge of the can is directed into the forward corner of the cap wall and this action continues until the cap is withdrawn from the chute and falls to the position shown in Figure 8. It will be noted that the side wall of the skirt D, as shown in Figure '7, will be positively flared when the cap is bent around the nose 29 of the presser shoe so that the initial fitting operation of the cap onto the body is positively controlled.

When the cap has been completely withdrawn from the chute, the rear portion of the skirt falls upon the upper surface of the pivoted vane 3|, which in turn, is supported at this time upon the rear wall of the body. The; cap skirt which is engaged by the frictional surface 32 on the vane, is dragged backwardly with respect to the motion of the cap and body so that the rear half of the skirt is flared backwardly for final application of the cap over the wall of the body. The cap and body then progress to the position shown in Figure 10 and the body continues to rotate as it passes under the pressing shoe so that the cap is smoothly applied against the entire upper edge of the body wall.

The bodies, after driving through the capping station, pass under the detector means 34 which is effective to remove uncapped bodies as explained above. If a capped body passes the detector, it is carried forwardly on conveyor H to thegate 4B which-is opened intermittently to permit capped bodies to pass one at a time into position before the pusher member 5.! which dc livers the capped bodies onto elevator 44. The elevator is then operated to deliver the capped bodies, preferably, cap foremost into the lower end of core 45 of the heating and ironing means and as successive capped bodies are lifted into thecore 4-5, the preceding bodies are forced step by step through the length thereof so that the skirts of the caps are ironed against the walls of the bodies simultaneously with the application of heat and pressure so that the caps are permanently affixed to the bodies.

The bodies are confined rather tightly in the core 45 and as the bodies are delivered into the lower end by the elevator 44 with sufficient energy to force the whole line upwardly, the capped body issuing from the upper end of the heating and ironing means 43 is delivered into the guide means 60 with suificient energy that it easily follows the guide and falls onto a secondconveyor for delivery to any further processing that may be required.

As above described, the cap chute may be formed of a channel member inclined toward the capping station at about a 30 angle. The longitudinal axis of the chuteis arranged to lie substantially wholly within a plane arranged perpendicularly to the surface of the conveyor ll, said plane being also disposed along the longitudinal center line of that surface, The plane of 13 the bottom of the chute may be positioned perpendicularly with respect to said other plane following the center line of conveyor H, as shown in Figures 1, 4, 6, 8 and 10.

In Figure a modified form of the cap chute is shown and in this structure, the chute is disposed so that the plane of the bottom of the chute is inclined at an angle with respect to said plane perpendicular to the surface of the conveyor. The chute is inclined at the same angle of about to feed the caps downwardly and the plane of the bottom of the chute is depressed at an angle of approximately 1 toward the side wall I3, as is shown in Figure 20, so that the caps being presented to the rotating bodies will engage the bodies at a point E (see Figure 13). Figure 20 is an exaggerated view of this modified form of the cap chute and thus the indicated point E in Figure 13 is shown displaced somewhat further around the periphery of the upper edge of the body than is actually the case, the actual point of contact being more nearly opposite the end of the longer diameter of the elliptically shaped body.

The provisions of a chute disposed in this angular relation aids in the application of the cap to the body by a screwing action and is especially helpful in placing a cap on filled cans. The presentaticn of the caps to a point as at E on the wall of the container tends to overcome somewhat any inability to distort the filled can to elliptical shape. When the cap is applied as shown in Figure 13, the skirt is more widely spaced from the wall on the one side, as clearly shown in Figure 13 of the drawings, whereby an easier application of the cap results, i. e., the cap is presented to the body somewhat eccentrically and, the wall being brought into contact with the skirt by reason of the rotation of the body, is thus given a wider clearance with respect to the skirt so that if the body cannot be distorted to the desired extent, there will still be a sufficient clearance betweenthe skirt and the wall to insure a proper interfit over the wall.

The paper caps being applied have a skirt, the inner diameter of which is just equal to the outer diameter of the can body. During the stamping operation for forming these skirted paper caps, it has been found desirable to slightly moisten the paper being die stamped so that the fibers in the paper forming the cap may be drawn more easily. This addition of moisture to the paper forming the cap also aids materially in the cap affixing step for the reason that the moistened paper cap, when heated in core $5, is caused to shrink somewhat and thus binds more tightly onto the can body. To accomplish the best capping operation, it is essential, therefore, that the cap be applied to the can body shortly after it has been stamped out in order that advantage may be taken of the moistened condition of the paper. Dry caps, however, may be readily handled in this machine but a closer final fit can be made if a slightly moistened cap is applied to the body and shrunk into place. 7

The cap may be formed of a single thickness of paper such as is known as "strawboard cap stock in the trade. This is a paper having a manila facing stock on each surface, the main filler body being straw fiber. Any other paper stock which can be suitably shaped may also be used.

The body may be constructed in any manner, but the form that may be most conveniently produced in commercial operations is that type wherein a laminated structure is produced by winding several plies of strip paper in a continuous spiral around a mandrel. The difierent plies are glued together and the completed tube issues from the mandrel. The tube is cut into suitable lengths as it comes from the machine to provide the individual bodies and they are then passed to the capping mechanism of the present invention. Any suitable body could be capped in the present machine and no limitation is to be implied from the description of the body here contained.

A body, as above described, is usually wound from a stock known as straw chip board. This tube stock is adhered together with a quick drying glue and the bodies are ready to be used very shortly after the finished tube is severed into body lengths.

ihe cap, being formed from a shrinkable material and applied to the body when in expanded condition, is very tightly situated on the body by following the present method as performed in this machine. The inner diameter of the skirt of the cap, when the cap is expanded by the addition of moisture, is selected to be approximately equal to the outer diameter of the body so that when the cap is applied by the machine, it fits very snugly even before shrinking. Just sufficient clearance is provided between the skirt and the body so that the skirt can be easily worked onto the body as the body moves through the capping station. When, thereafter, the cap is heated and shrunk onto the end of the body, the very tight fit cooperates with the glue to maintain the cap in position on the body.

A container produced in this manner will have a cap applied thereto, which cap will be tensioned across the open end of the container so that there is no tendency for the cap to wrinkle or bulge and the ironing action of the core 15 removes all wrinkles from the skirt laid against the side wall. After the cap has been shrunk onto the body, the diameter of the skirt of the cap has been reduced from a size slightly larger than the size of the can body to a size such that it very tightly binds onto the body and, it is, in fact, drawn tightly around the periphery of the upper edge of the container wall to imperceptibly compress the wall as the cap is permanently adhered thereto. With this construction. the tensioning of the skirt around the periphery of the container tends to form a hoop around the body to counteract any expansive force exerted from within the container by the material filled into it.

In the disclosed apparatus and method here shown, a water soluble glue may be carried in the glue box iii]. This glue is delivered to the rim of the body by the roller Hi. This method of applying glue is well known in the art and forms no part of the present invention.

It is obvious that if desired, a thermoplastic glue could be coated onto either the capped skirt or the body and by using the present machine, a cap could be applied. The heating and ironing mechanism 63 would be perfectly operative to render such a glue tacky and is designed to apply the proper pressure to efiect the desired application of the cap on the body. If aquick setting glue is provided, the heating elements may be eliminated. Such an ironing means will lay the cap skirt neatly into position, but will not accomplish the desired shrinking forming a part of the preferred manner of practicing the herein disclosed invention.

' A conventional drive mechanism has been shown for rotating the roller Hi, for driving the belt forming the movable wall i3, for reciprocating the pusher ii, and for lifting elevator it. No further explanation of these obvious mechanical details is deemed necessary other than the description contained in the drawings.

The preferred method of operating the machine contemplates the capping of a cylindrical body by rotating the body as it passes through the capping station. The machine, however, can be made to operate by driving the body through the capping station without rotation thereof and, by distorting the cap to flare its skirt as here taught, the cap may be readily fitted onto the body and pressed home by presser 25.

Also a container other than a cylindrical one may be passed through the machine. In this instance, the crosssection of core :5 of the heating and ironing member would have to be made to correspond to that of the container being capped in order to properly iron the cap skirt against the container wall. The machine need not be altered in any other respect.

Many other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A capper having in combination a means to produce a relative motion between a cap and a body, a means to deliver a deformable skirted cap during such relative motion into position with respect to said body so as to be engaged by an open end edge of said body and thereby withdraw the cap from said delivery means for application to the body, means engaging the cap as it is being withdrawn from said delivery means to distort the cap as it is being applied to the body whereby at least a portion of the skirt is flared outwardly as the cap is being withdrawn and applied to the body, said cap engaging means including a weighted presser means positioned to float On top of the cap as the cap leaves said delivery means.

2. A capper having in combination a means to produce a relative motion between a cap and a body, a means to deliver a deformable cap during such relative motion into position with respect to said body so as to be engaged by an open end edge of said body and thereby withdraw the cap from said delivery means for application to the body, means engaging the cap as it is being withdrawn from said delivery means to distort the cap as it is being applied to the body whereby at least a portion of the skirt is flared outwardly as the cap is being withdrawn and applied to the body, said cap engaging means including a weighted presser means positioned to float on top of the cap as the cap leaves said delivery means, and said cap engaging means including also a member disposed between the body and cap as said cap is being withdrawn to engage the lower edge of the rear portion of the skirt of the cap with respect to the movement of the cap out of the delivery means to flare the skirt outwardly over the rear wall of the body as the cap is being applied.

3. A capper having in combination a means to deliver a deformable skirted circular cap into position over a body so that the cap may be withdrawn for application to the body, means to feed an empty deformable cylindrical body through said capper, means engaging the periphery of the empty body to control its shape as i6 said body is having a cap placed thereon, said body deforming means taking the form of a confined passageway and being operative to give said body an elliptical shape and the confining structure of said passage being relieved throughout a portion only of that part of the passage in contact with the cap receiving end of the body to cause the end receiving the cap to return to a circular shape by continuing the deformation of the opposite end only of the body while releasing said receiving end, and means engaging the cap as it is being withdrawn from said delivery means to distort the cap as it is being applied to the body whereby the side walls of the skirt are flared outwardly as the cap is being withdrawn and the body is correspondingly deformed as the cap is being applied to the body such that said receiving end is deformed to an elliptical shape to permit the flared side walls of the cap skirt to pass over the body and. the receiving end is then returned to its circular shape as the remainder of the skirt passes over the body.

4. A capper having in combination a means to deliver a deformable skirted circular cap into position over a body so that the cap may be withdrawn for application to the body, means to feed a cylindrical body through said capper, means for rotating the body about its axis as it moves through the capper, said delivery means being disposed to present the cap to the end of the body so that the cap may be engaged with the body at one point around the periphery of the skirt and the cap may thereafter be pro ressively applied to the body, said initial point of contact being made to fall upon the periphery of the end of the rotating body somewhere in the sector defined by the ends of a pair of diameters of the body disposed at right angles with respect to each other, one of which is drawn substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the body and wherein a mark on the periphery of the body and traveling in said sector will move from a point tangent to the side wall of the rotating body toward a point tangent to the front wall of the rotating body, and means for progressively applying the cap to the rotating body after said initial point of contact is made as the cap is withdrawn from said delivery means.

5. A capper having in combination a chute to deliver a deformable skirted circular cap into position over a body so that the cap may be withdrawn for application to the body, means to feed a cylindrical body through said capper, means for rotating the body about its axis as it moves through the capper, said delivery chute being disposed to feed caps by gravity and to present a cap to the end of the body so that the cap may be engaged with the body at one point around the periphery of the skirt and the cap-may thereafter be progressively applied to the body, said initial point of contact being made to fall upon the periphery of the end of the rotating body somewhere in the sector defined by the ends of a pair of diameters of the body disposed at right angles with respect to each other, one of which is drawn substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the body and wherein a mark on the periphery of the body and traveling in said sector will move from a point tangent to the side wall of the rotating body toward a point tangent to the front wall of the rotating body, and means for progressively applying the capto the rotating body after 17 said initial point of contact is made as the cap is withdrawn from said delivery means.

6. The method of applying a deformable skirted circular cap onto a deformable cylindrical body comprising presenting a body to a capping station, deforming the body to cause it to have an elliptical shape, effecting rotation of the body relative to the cap as the body is being driven past the capping station, distorting the cap to flare at least a portion of the skirt, and progressively applying the distorted cap to the body while said portion is flared and until substantially all of the skirt is situated over the body and then releasing the deformation of the body so that it may return to a substantiallycylindrical shape while the remainder of the skirt is being applied, the relative rotation between the body and cap cooperating to effect an application of the cap on the body.

'7. A capper having in combination a means to deliver a deformable skirted cap into position with respect to a body so that the cap may be withdrawn for application to the body, means to feed a cylindrical body through said capper with its open end traveling generally in a plane, said cap delivery means being positioned relatively above said plane and in proximity to the open end of a body being fed through the capper such that a cap heldthereby may be engaged by the open end of such a body during its feeding movement, a presser means'positioned in said plane and close to the cap delivery means, said presser having a shoulder facing the delivery means and positioned to engage and bend the cap about a laterally disposed axis thereof, said body feeding means being operative to drive a body past the cap delivery means to withdraw a cap therefrom and carry it under the shoulder of the presser means, said presser and delivery means both being positioned with respect to said plane and each other whereby a cap being withdrawn is held between the open end of the body and the delivery means as the body feeds forwardly so that the cap is bent around the shoulder of said presser to flare the side walls of the cap outwardly. I

8. A capper having in combination a means to deliver a deformable skirted cap into position with respect to a body so that the cap may be withdrawn for application to the body, means to feed a cylindrical body through said capper with its open end traveling generally in a plane, said cap delivery means being positioned relatively above said plane and in proximity to the open end of a body being fed through the capper such that a cap held thereby may be engaged by the open end of such a body during its feeding movement, a presser means positioned in said plane and close to the cap delivery means, said presser having a shoulder facing toward the delivery means, said shoulder being substantially as wide as the lateral dimension of the cap, said body feeding means being operative to drive a body past the cap delivery means to withdraw a cap therefrom and carry it under the shoulder of the presser means, said presser and delivery means both being positioned with respect to said plane and each other whereby a cap being withrawn is held between the open end of the body and the delivery means as the body feeds forwardly so that the cap is bent about a laterally disposed axis at the shoulder of said presser to flare the side walls'of the cap outwardly.

9. A capper having in combination a means to deliver a deformable skirted cap into position with respect to a body so that the cap may be withdrawn for application to the body, means to feed a cylindrical body through said capper with its open end traveling generally in a plane, said cap delivery means being positioned relatively above said plane and in proximity to the open end of a body being fed through the capper such that a cap held thereby may be engaged by the open end of such a body during its feeding movement, a weighted presser means positioned to float in said plane and on the open end of a body being fed thereunder, said presser having a shoulder positioned close to and facing the delivery means and positioned to engage and bend the cap about a laterally disposed axis thereof, said body feeding means being operative to drive a body past the cap delivery means to withdraw a cap therefrom and carry it under the shoulder of the presser means on the open end of the body, said presser and delivery means both being positioned with respect to said plane and each other whereby a cap being withdrawn is held between the open end of the body and the delivery means as the body feeds forwardly so i that the cap is bent around the shoulder of said presser to flare the side walls of the cap outwardly.

10. The method of applying a skirted cap onto a body comprising presenting a body to a capping station, effecting rotation of the body relative to the cap while driving the body past the capping station, presenting the skirt of a cap to the body while holding the cap at an angle with respect to the plane of the open end of the body by exposing a portion of the skirt in the path through which the body moves, and applying the cap to the body by the relative rotation between the body and cap whereby the rotation of the body cooperates with the skirt of the cap to effect an application of the cap on the body.

11. The method of applyinga skirted cap onto a body comprising presenting a body to a capping station, effecting rotation of the body relative to the cap while driving the body past the capping station, presenting the skirt of a cap to the body while holding the cap at an acute angle with respect to the plane of the open end of the body by exposing a portion of the skirt in the path through which the body moves, and applying the cap to the body by the relative rotation between the body and cap whereby the rotation of the body cooperates with the skirt of the cap to effect an application of the cap on the body.

12'. The method of applying a deformable skirted circular cap onto a deformable cylindrical body comprising presenting a body to a capping station, deforming the body by confining it between two walls spaced apart a distance less than the width of the body to cause it to have an elliptical shape, eifecting rotation of the body relative to the cap as the body is being driven past the capping station, exposing a portion of the skirt in the path through which the body moves, distorting the cap to flare at least a portion of the skirt, and progressively applying the distorted cap to the body while said portion is flared and until substantially all of the skirt is situated over the body and then releasing the deformation of the body so that it may return to a substantially cylindrical shape while the remainder of the skirt is being applied, the relative rotation between the body and cap cooperating to effect an application of the cap on the body.

13. The method of applying a deformable skirted circular cap onto a deformable cylindrical body comprising presenting a body to a capping station, deforming the body by confining it between two walls spaced apart a distance less than the width of the body to cause it to have an elliptical shape, effecting rotation of the body relative to the cap as the body is being driven past the capping station by moving one of said walls relatively to the other, exposing a portion of the skirt in the path through which the body moves, distorting the cap to flare at least a portion of the skirt, and progressively applying the distorted cap to the body while said portion is flared and until substantially all of the skirt is situated over the body and then releasing the deformation of the body so that it may return to a substantially cylindrical shape while the remainder of the skirt is being applied, the relative rotation between the body and cap cooperating to effect an application of the cap on the body.

14. The method of applying a skirted cap onto a body comprising rotating the body during the cap applying operation, bringing the skirt of the cap into engagement with an advance engaging edge of the body, distorting the cap skirt by bending the cap on the upper surface thereof whereby the skirt of the cap is expanded laterally beyond the edge of the body, and reducin the distorting action on the upper surface of the cap while still maintaining pressure thereon whereby the cap is applied to the body.

15. The method of applying a skirted cap onto a body comprising advancing the body past a cap applying station, rotating the body during the cap applying operation, bringing the skirt of the cap into engagement with the advance engaging edge of the body, distorting the cap skirt by bending the cap on the upper surface thereof whereby the skirt of the cap is expanded laterally beyond the edge of the body, and reducing the distorting action on the upper surface of the cap while still maintaining pressure thereon whereby the cap is applied to the body.

CHARLES T. WALTER. LOWELL R. NEWTON. I-IEDIRICH E. HAASE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 890,985 Jennings June 16, 1908 1,141,502 Stock June 1, 1915 1,414,706 Peterson May 2, 1922 1,435,415 Nemeceket et al. Nov. 14, 1922 1,464,654 Holt Aug. 14, 1923 1,502,869 Nemeck et a1. July 29, 1924 1,527,796 Hammer Feb. 24, 1925 1,557,500 Nordenfelt et al. Oct. 13, 1925 1,641,970 Henderson Sept. 13, 1927 1,704,227 Stroppel Mar. 5, 1929 1,924,045 Molins et al. Aug. 22, 1933 2,183,093 Diot Dec. 12', 1939 2,262,292 Ladd Nov. 11, 1941 

